Textile machinery



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ATTORNEYS.

TEXTILE MACHINERY Wallace Ronald Brooksbank, llkley, England Application December 23, 1955, Serial No. 555,151

2 Claims. (Cl. 19-115) This invention relates to endless and jointed belts, aprons, sleeves or leathers suitable for conveying textile fibres and which run between, around or against a fluted roller or rollers on machines used for combing, preparing, finishing or gilling wool and or other fibres, including those known as Noble type combing, French and recti linear type combing, preparing, box, gill box, finishing box, intersecting box, aprons and leathers all hereafter termed aprons.

These aprons have previously been made with substantially flat or plain surfaces and have been fitted to the machine in that state. When the machine is set in motion, pressure is exerted on the apron by the fluted roller or rollers, and the apron in travelling between, around or against the roller or rollers gradually becomes moulded or embossed by the impression of the protruding ribs and intermediate flutes of the rollers. This so called bedding or fluting operation takes place during the first part of the useful life of the apron and varies considerably in the time taken and the degree of bedding according to the softness or hardness or resilience of the particular apron and the material from which it is made. During this operation the substantially flat or plain apron is driven rapidly between around or against fluted rollers and in addition to the normal driving tension is under additional strain, being elongated by having to follow the extended contour of these rollers, and being thus strenuously compressed, distorted and worn by the ribs and flutes of the revolving rollers. Also during the bedding operation the flutes of the rollers do not necessarily mesh with the apron in the'sarne position at each new revolution, therefore, the final position (or pitch) of the flute impressions on the apron is not determined until the apron has reached approximate stability in respect of stretch and degree of bedding. Until this stage is reached, irregular meshing of the partly stretched and partly fluted apron with the fluted rollers causes excessive and unnecessary strain and wear on the apron and its surfaces, thus decreasing its useful life. In the case of aprons which are jointed this excessive strain and wear during the period of bedding is especially liable to cause disturbance of the thin tapering edges of the joint owing to the fluted surfaces of the rollers cutting, tearing, or bursting this part of the apron and causing its premature destruction. Also in jointed aprons the resilience of the jointed part is often less than that of the remainder of the apron and this part, therefore, conforms less readily to the shape of the fluted rollers which factor causes irregular running and increases the liability of the apron being cut, torn, or burst at the joint.

The present invention provides forms of apron with surfaces wholly or partly shaped, moulded corrugated or prefluted in such manner as to conform better to the surfaces of the roller or rollers.

Where the aprons are wholly prefluted in this manner the following advantages are obtained:

(1) A more positive drive with less pressure necessary between the rollers as the prefluted apron meshes with I 2,900,673 Patented Aug. 25, 1959 the fluted rollers immediately it is fitted to the machine. Less tension therefore is required to drive the apron, resulting in the apron stretching less. Also in the case of leather and certain other aprons, the natural stretch may be substantially removed during the prefluting process, resulting in less stretch occurring on the machine.

(2) The excessive strain previously put on the flat or plain apron and the irregular meshing during its first period of use on the machine i.e. the bedding or fluting period is obviated. The possibility of the apron slipping on the rollers during this period is also reduced.

(3) Also as the bedding or fluting period is eliminated or considerably reduced the previous variation of the machine product or sliver of wool or other fibre during such period is reduced, machine stoppages for apron adjustments are reduced along with the responsibility of the operative for adjusting the machine so that the apron beds or flutes to the best advantage, and is not prematurely damaged or destroyed.

(4) In the case of an endless jointed apron it is possible to predetermine the eventual position of the joint or joints relative to that of the flute impressions, thus reducing the possibility of the protruding ribs and intermediate flutes of the rollers disturbing the thin tapering edges of the joint or joints.

(5) The manufacture or moulding of endless or endless jointed aprons from materials which will not readily bed or flute on the machine or are not strong enough to withstand bedding or fluting on the machine but are otherwise suitable or advantageous in use.

(6) Whilst flat or plain aprons are normally compressed and stretched and therefore become thinner during the bedding period on the machine, in the case of prefluted aprons such compression and stretching may be achieved beforehand, so that an effectively thicker and therefore stronger apron can be fitted on to the machine.

(7) In the case of leather aprons which are rarely made of exactly even thickness, because this would require excessive levelling and subsequent loss of strength, the compression of the prefluting process may reduce inconsistencies in leather thickness.

(8) In the case of jointed aprons the jumping, or uneven running previously caused by the entry of the less resilient jointed part between the fluted rollers, especially during the bedding or fluting period, is substantially reduced.

(9) Finally the excessive strain or flexing previously put on the flat or plain joint or joints of a jointed apron and which caused the tapering edges of the joint, being forced around the ribs or flutes of the rollers, frequently to lift or burst open, is obviated. Also because this excessive strain or flexing is eliminated, it is now possible, without increasing the risk of lifting or bursting open, to construct the tapering edges of the joint or joints thicker than previously, thus substantially increasing the strength and wear resistance of the apron at or near the tapering edges which are its most delicate parts.

The invention Will be further described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings where several arrangements are illustrated and wherein:

Figure 1 shows one type of known arrangement in which an apron runs between fluted rollers and illustrates the flat or plain apron before it has become fluted or bedded.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the approximate form of an apron which has become fluted or bedded through use.

Figure 3 shows an endless apron which has been fully prefluted While Figure 4 shows an endless jointed apron which has been partly prefluted, mainly, in the vicinity of the joint.

will asume after it has become bedded by the rollers 2 and 3.

In Figure 3 the endless belt 6 shown is wholly prefluted, while in Figure 4 a jointed belt 7 having a scarf joint at 8 is prefluted in the vicinity of the joint as shown at 9 in the figure and to a-larger scale in Figure 5.

The apron 6 may be constructed of leather, rubber, plastic, or any other suitable material or combinations or laminations of such materials and may be endless or jointed endless.

The surfaces of the apron are wholly or partly shaped, embossed, moulded corrugated or prefluted during manufacture or after manufacture but before the apron is fitted to the machine for use.

What I claim is:

1. An endless apron for conveying textile fibers in apparatus having intermeshing fluted rollers between which the apron passes, comprising a length offlexible material having opposite end portions, said end portions having complementary tapered surfaces adhesively secured to one another to provide a joint portion of substantially uniform thickness with the end edge portions of said opposite end portions being disposed on opposite sides of the apron and spaced longitudinally from one another, said apron having transverse flutes preformed therein of a configuration such as to conform to the shape and pitch of the interspace between the intermeshing fluted rollers, said flutes bein'gformed in predetermined relationship to the tapered surfaces of said end portions, said flutes extending substantially normally to the longitudinally extendinglateral'edges of the apron and being formed in. a longitudinally extending area of the apron including said joint and extending longitudinally outwardly from said joint beyond said end'edge portions of the opposite end portions of the length of material, so as to minimize damage to the joint portion produced by engagement of the fluted rollers therewith.

2. An apron as defined in claim 1 wherein the remainder of the length of the apron has uniformly spaced transverse fiutes formed therein.

References Cited'in the file of this patent UNITED'STATES PATENTS 2,686,939 Keyser Aug. 24, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 125,750 Germany Jan. 15, 1901 415,494 Great Britain Aug. 30, 1934 

